Russia praises CPC Congress, hopes for closer bilateral ties

Moscow, Nov 6 (UNI) Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao on the success of the recently held Congress of the Communist Party of China and expressed hope for closer bilateral cooperation.

''I congratulate you on the success of the Communist Party Congress and I want to send my best regards to our friend, newly elected President Hu Jintao,'' Mr Putin said during his meeting with Mr Wen yesterday in the Kremlin.

He also wished success to Mr Hu in carrying out the existing tasks.

The 17th Congress of the Communist Party of China determined big plans of China's development, he said.

''We hope that Russian-Chinese cooperation will be an efficient contribution in carrying out these plans,'' he said, adding that both the nations attached important significance to the bilateral cooperation.

During his three-day visit, Mr Wen would participate in the closing ceremony of Year of China in Russia and hold talks with his Russian counterpart Viktor Zubkov on cooperation in different fields.

The two sides were expected to sign 10 inter-governmental, inter-departmental and commercial agreements in nuclear power engineering and finances, in implementing joint projects in science and technologies, small and medium-size business.

''My meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov will focus on sincere and substantial exchange of views on bilateral issues, international and regional problems,'' Itar-Tass quoted Mr Wen as saying.

''After our talks we will determine priorities on all spectrum of issues in order to strengthen Russian-Chinese strategic interaction and multilateral mutually advantageous cooperation,'' he stressed.

He also said Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) provided an important platform for strengthening strategic interaction and stepping up cooperation between the two countries in order to resolve regional and international issues.

The Chinese Prime Minister expressed confidence that common efforts taken by all SCO countries, including Russia and China, would help the organisation play a worthy role in contributing to prosperity and development of the region.

Russian Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Elvira Nabiullina, said contracts worth over 3 billion dollars were expected to be signed at the 2nd Russian-Chinese economic forum.

In the first nine months this year, the trade turnover between the two countries reached 35 billion dollars. By 2010, they have set a target of 60 to 80 billion dollars in trade turnover.

UNI